On June 11, officers of the National Police of Ukraine in the Crimea and Sevastopol, together with representatives of the State Border Service, detained a man who was a member of the illegal armed group “Self-Defense of Crimea”.

A man, born 1984, attempted to cross the administrative border of the Crimea and mainland Ukraine on the Kalanchak check point.

According to the detainee, he was returning “to the mainland” to restore his Ukrainian passport, because he wanted to go abroad to earn money.

Investigators reported the militant about the suspicion of committing a criminal offense under part 2 of Article 260 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine – participation in the activities of armed groups not envisaged by law.

Among the belongings of the detainee a certificate was found issued by the Russian authorities, “For actively participating in the performance of combat tasks to protect the city of Sevastopol as part of the people’s self-defense forces.”

The offender faces imprisonment up to 8 years.

Kherson City Court has already chosen a measure of restraint for the suspect in the form of two months of detention without bail.

“Self-defense of the Crimea” emerged on not long before the occupation of Crimea by Russia and assisted the aggressor country in annexing the peninsula. Human rights activists have repeatedly stated the involvement of this illegal armed group in a number of crimes, some of which have not yet been solved in the Crimea.

On June 3, the Office of the National Police in the ARC and Sevastopol completed criminal proceedings against two militants of an armed formation called “Crimean self-defense”, who face life imprisonment.

Earlier, the Prosecutor’s Office of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea put 28 members of the so-called “Crimea’s self-defense” on the wanted list.